Columbia, SC - The South Carolina General Assembly today overrode Governor
Mark Sanford's veto of S. 99, which requires the State Election Commission
to pay for and operate the 2008 presidential primaries in the state.
South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler released the following
statement:

"This is a victory for the voters of South Carolina, no matter what
their party loyalty. Every voter should have confidence that he or
she will be able to cast a vote and have it counted properly, and the best
way to accomplish that is with professionally run elections.

"The Democratic Party has done an outstanding job in the past of putting
on presidential primaries using our volunteers, but turning the task over
to the pros will insure that this important election is carried out without
the kind of glitches that might happen with inexperienced poll managers.

"We appreciate very much that our Democratic legislators stuck together
on this issue from the beginning, and that legislators of both parties
put aside partisanship to accomplish something important for South Carolinians."